health

iHealth Lab's Edge health tracker has officially launched in the United States, bringing yet another activity-centric wearable to a market that doesn't yet have enough of them. The wearable features a design similar to a smartwatch, though it can also be worn as a clip-on for times that is more convenient. As with competing products, the Edge keeps track of all sorts of health metrics, not the least of which is fitness data like calories burned and information related to one's sleep quality at night.

With Apple’s HealthKit, we were promised a core app in Health that would give us insight on our overall wellbeing, based on apps that worked with the platform. though HealthKit had a rough start, it’s here, and when used properly, not all that bad a take on your health and fitness stats. Google previously announced their own health platform in Google Fit, which aims to do the exact same thing HealthKit does — just for Android. Google has now published their app to the Play Store, and it’s compatible with just about every Android phone around.

Fitbit has revealed a trio of new fitness tracking wearables, the Charge, Charge HR, and Surge, promising not only health monitoring but Caller ID and sleep pattern tracking. Launching today in the case of the Fitbit Charge, and in early 2015 for the other models, each has a display - OLED on the Charge and Charge HR, and an LCD touchscreen on the Surge smartwatch - and up to a full week of battery life, the company claims. Meanwhile, there's also the promise of access to the heart rate and GPS data collected by the three, though the Fitbit API.

For many, Flu Shots are a necessary right of passage into the Fall and Winter months. The immunizations are increasingly easy to get, with many pharmacies across the United States administering them on a walk-in basis. Sometimes you just can’t find the time to get your Flu Shot in, though, which is where Uber comes into play. A new pilot program, which will only last a day and is only available in select cities, will see nurses bringing the Flu Shot to you.

DARPA, known half-jokingly as the Department of Mad Scientists, has again turned its attention to the human brain, this time hoping to expand our insight into it and its structure through the use of incredibly tiny (read: atom-sized) graphene sensors. It detailed its latest effort on Monday, explaining its work in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin at Madison to create a new form of technology for peering into how the brain functions. This is done as part of President Obama's brain initiative, says the research agency.

Zepp's fancy sports tracking nugget could always show you how your golf or baseball swing was shaping up, but a new deal with pro-level athletes can now tell you how you compare with those earning big bucks in the sports. Zepp launched back in 2013, a 1-inch square dongle that clips to your golf glove or baseball/softball bat and comes filled with sensors to track movement in 3D and then feed performance stats to a companion app. Now, though, there's a whole new level of training aid integrated, including 3D modeling, as well as a free version of the app to get an early taster.

Dyson is really spreading its wings as far as its product lineup goes. Just last month it introduced to the world its first robot vacumm cleaner, the 360 Eye. Now, it is doing so again but with a humidifier. It doesn't have an ominous sounding name and is simply called the Dyson Humidifier. That doesn't mean, however, that it is any less interesting. This humidifier, which resembles and doubles as a bladeless fan, not only keeps your air cozily humid, it also kills germs before it distributes those water particles as well.

Microsoft's long-rumored smartwatch plans will reach fruition in just a few weeks time, insiders claim, with what's said to be a fitness-centric wearable expected to debut imminently. The Windows-maker's ambitions in the space have been well whispered since last year, and as recently as June 2014 there were suggestions that the unnamed wrist-band would hit the market in October, complete with a full complement of motion-tracking sensors.

Following a nationwide recall of the Fitbit Force back in February of this year, Fitbit has just avoided another such situation by agreeing to warn consumers about possible allergens. The fitness wearable manufacturer reached an agreement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, resulting in packaging for the Fitbit Flex now displaying a warning about containing nickel.

Not long ago, we reported that Fitbit wasn’t enthralled with Apple’s HealthKit. They didn’t say it was lacking, but they also said they were being a bit more pragmatic about it than some users would hope for. According to a new report, Apple will stop selling Fitbit products in their stores, instead choosing to make way for their own wearables which do support HealthKit. Though it’s not clear exactly why Fitbit is being removed from store shelves, the HealthKit slight is hard to look past.